Words of Power
by Sikla Alkis
Summary: "What is the First Tongue?" many have asked. Many would say, "It is the language of the spirits," but it is more than that. The tongues of man are mere mouth-sounds, useful babble; First Tongue is the tongue of spirits, of gods, and of Luna. Before Urfarah, however, none could wield the tongue but the spirits; they held power over the world, commanding seas and ranges ... "


**WORDS OF POWER  
****By Sikla Alkis**

"This story is true.

In the age of _Gurihisil_, when flesh and spirit were one, words were of power. The song of a Cahalith could break a mountain in half; a vengeful Prophet could wither a field with a howl. The Rahu snarled curses that bound beasts into stone, and the Ithaeurs chanted incantations that made the day become night. The Irraka whispered into the shadows, and to them, the shadows whispered back. With a single command, all lies were revealed beneath an Elodoth's piercing gaze.

This story is true: words were power. Were, until the rise of our Father.

'What is the First Tongue?' many have asked. Many would say, 'It is the language of the spirits,' but it is more than that. The tongues of man are mere mouth-sounds, useful babble; First Tongue is the tongue of spirits, of gods, and of Luna. Before _Urfarah_, however, none could wield the tongue but the spirits; they held power over the world, commanding seas and ranges to shift and rise. All of the world trembled at the alien, incomprehensible sounds of their manifested rulers, and had no way to argue, to fight back other than to scream and shout incoherently. The spirits did not care; they simply wiped their doubters away with a wave, a word and a blink.

This story is true: words became _Urfarah_'s power.

When he emerged, great and lean in his younger days with a world equally young, he fought tooth and claw to make the spirits bow. Yet, terrifyingly, they could bind him into servitude, all with the words they wielded. Their servants spoke secretly of his weaknesses and his fears, and the spirits warped the _Gurihisil_ against him. Despite his fear, though, he responded by roaring into the darkness, charging ahead with fangs bared, and he wielded power with words of his own. We are but half-spirit, but _Urfarah_ would be King, and he said:

'I defy you, for I have a voice, and I have free will.'

With those words, illusions were shattered, enemies devoured. He grew and grew and grew so great, his maw could swallow the world. When the beings of flesh saw their wolf-king, bloodied in all his resplendent and savage glory, they bowed and whimpered. They bent the knee and submitted to their new Lord, and _Urfarah_ said:

'Fear not, for I will not bind you. I shall rule, but you will not be my pawns. I am your Alpha, but the high shall respect the low, and I give you power. I give you my free will.'

Some say it was the birth of his ban, for before then, he was perfect. He had enough power to transcend above a ban comprehensible to the rest of the Shadow, but he gave it up to free the world. And so, he marked out the Border Marches, helping to set the great keeps in-between: forts and towers that rose high into the heavens, markers of this world and beyond.

This story is true: man had free will, but they could not speak until the _Uratha_ showed them how to do it.

First Tongue's words never can be understood by man, but Mother Luna's form can be human. She can speak as a human, seduce any human, and walk among humans unscathed. She is the ever-changing Queen of the Shadow, and _Urfarah_ was her king. When the two coupled and begat the Firstborn, she gave her pups the ability to change as well, and they could assume the perfect form of Gauru. Her curse and the fall of Pangaea limits our use of the form, but the Firstborn walked among men as man-wolves. They could speak perfectly in either First Tongue or human speech, and with this ability, they taught the humans beneath them to speak. It is why our name for First Tongue is _Uremehir_, literally '_ur emehir_', the tongue of the wolf.

This story is true: Father Wolf would never have fallen if he had not given man free will, and permitted his children to teach them the first of human languages. Flesh and spirit would still be one, Pangaea, _Gurihisil_.

And what do we have to show for that? An instinctive knowledge of _Uremehir_, yes, but no means to speak it fluently. Very few of us can wield the Tongue as a spirit can, and it takes years upon years of study and listening to the Shadow. Those years many of us do not have, for the life of an Uratha is a hard, vicious life, and we all fall to our fury or the fury of others. It is why I have spent so much time in solitude, seeking out the words long lost to us, and hoping for a day when we may use them to wield power again.

_Emehir kal mahannunhia taskarin umfin_ – the tongue is mightier than the claw."

- Attributed to  
Ramani Shakes-the-Shadow-With-Words,  
Ghost Wolf Cahalith,  
on the study of First Tongue

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_~ ooo ~_

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The World of Darkness_ copyright White Wolf Publishing; t__ext copyright me_


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